Here's Why It Took This Long (And Why Now Is the Right Time)

By the CMX Connect Dubai Chapter Directors

There are so many communities in Dubai that it can actually be challenging.

It’s not that there aren’t enough communities; in fact, there are too many. Events happen all the time. WhatsApp groups appear faster than you can mute them. Every week, a new founder circle, creator group, or professional network starts up somewhere between Jumeirah and Dubai Marina. By any measure, the community-building scene here is booming.

But there’s something people don’t talk about: the people building these communities are mostly doing it alone.

We’ve met community builders in Dubai, real practitioners running communities with hundreds or even thousands of members, who had never talked to another community professional about their work. It’s not that they didn’t want to. There just wasn’t anywhere to go. No peer space. No local network for the people who build networks.

We’re here to close that gap.

The MENA region is experiencing a real community moment. Remote work changed where people live. Expo 2020 changed how the city thinks about gathering. Many founders and operators moved here and quickly started building audiences, networks, brand communities, and professional guilds. Community infrastructure is growing fast.

But most of it still feels disconnected.

A brand community manager at a regional e-commerce company might not know that someone two floors above is running a successful creator community. A founder who just launched a community product is figuring out onboarding from scratch, unaware that someone across the city solved the same problem six months ago. Knowledge that should be shared isn’t.

The global CMX network was created to solve this problem, and it already helps tens of thousands of community professionals around the world. But until now, there wasn’t a CMX chapter in one of the region’s most active cities.

That changes now.

‍What CMX Connect Dubai Actually Is

Let’s be clear about what this is and what it isn’t.

This isn’t a conference. It’s not a panel of speakers telling you how to build community while you sit and listen. We don’t want to add another networking event to Dubai’s already packed calendar.

CMX Connect Dubai is a peer space. It’s small, focused, and built on the idea that the best thing we can do for each other is be honest. Honest about what’s working. Honest about where we’re stuck. Honest about the parts of this work that nobody posts about on LinkedIn.

Our first session showed this in action: no speakers, no set agenda. Just people sharing where they are and what they need. We’re keeping it small so everyone can take part.

We want everyone who joins to leave with three things:

• One real connection—not just swapping business cards, but having a real conversation with someone doing similar work
• One actionable takeaway—something concrete they didn’t know before joining
• A stronger belief that community is a profession worth investing in

If that sounds simple, it is. That’s intentional. The best community spaces we’ve seen didn’t start with a big vision deck. They started with a small group of honest people in a room.

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A Note to Community Professionals Globally

If you’ve been part of a CMX chapter in another city, you already know what this can become. You know what it’s like to have a space, even a virtual one, where you can say, "Our retention is terrible, and I don't know why," without feeling like you’re making a confession.

We're building that room for Dubai.

If you’re reading this from somewhere else, whether you’re a chapter director or thinking about starting your own, know that this gap is probably common. Waiting until things feel ‘big enough’ often stops peer networks from forming.

We started with a virtual roundtable and a group chat. That was enough.

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A Note to Community Builders in MENA

You’re not as alone as it might seem.

There are people in this city and across the region doing the same work, facing the same challenges, and asking the same questions you are. They just haven’t been in the same room yet.

That’s what we’re here to change.

If you’re building a community in Dubai, the UAE, or anywhere in the MENA region, take the next step and sign up for our first session or message us directly. This chapter is new and open to your ideas. Early participants will help shape what comes next, so don’t miss your chance to get involved.

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Follow CMX Connect Dubai to get the latest updates about upcoming events and to officially join our chapter. Stay informed and be part of our growing community.

Community builders everywhere: reach out to connect, share experiences, or discuss how to start a chapter. Contact the Chapter Directors, Anjum Arsheen and Prerna Prasad, to start the conversation.

CMX Connect Dubai’s first virtual session was on April 30, 2026. The chapter is open to all community builders in the UAE and the MENA region.